Sound-based environment recognition technology has been used in modern mobile communication systems for providing user services. For example, a device such as a mobile device may be configured to detect ambient sound, and recognize the sound environment surrounding the device. The recognized sound environment may be used to provide the user of the device with targeted information such as advertisement information and social networking information.
In daily lives, mobile device users may be subject to a large number of different sound environments. In many cases, the devices may not be capable of storing or handling the sound environmental data due to limited storage capacity or processing power. Further, if a device is used to recognize only ambient sounds of its surroundings, the device may not be able to accurately recognize ambient sounds of new surroundings. For example, if a mobile device is used to capture and recognize the ambient sounds at a new place, such as vacation resort, the device may not accurately recognize sound environment of the surroundings.
In addition, users may carry their mobile devices to similar sound environments such as classrooms, meeting rooms, assembly halls, etc. In such instances, the mobile devices may not be able to distinguish and accurately recognize different sound environments.
Thus, there is a need for a method and an apparatus that enable a mobile device to recognize a broader scope of environmental sounds than may be available to the device while increasing the accuracy of environmental sound recognition.